The Shadow
by oujou
Summary: A story of a clan that is no longer spoken of but not forgotten, and among this is a story of love.
1. Chapter 1

Authors notes: I do not own Naruto or anything affiliated with it.

First of all I want people to know that Japanese words, including chans, kuns, and such will be used at a minimum, as I believe it gets a bit drawn out sometimes.

Yes the beginning is a bit drawn out without the main character, but I meant it to be that way for a reason.

In this new updated edition I added a cameo hopefully this will continue in later chapters.

Enjoy.

Divine Shadows: Chapter 1 The Paintings

Konoha has always been a very active village, both within its ninja population and civilian villagers. From its beginnings it was full of anxious young ninja that strived for power, or fame, whichever one was more important, or what their family thought important. Back in those times people were very highly influenced by everyone around them, not that they aren't now, but then it was much more than ridiculous; although what was strange is that the most obscure people rose in rank faster than the rest. From the first Hokage to its current, they all have shown some very peculiar habits from perverted actions to gambling the villages money supply away, though they may not be as strange as the character of this story Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto had quite a reputation amongst the villagers. He was hated by most, but those who cared for him, held him very close to their hearts, despite their constant annoyance at his antics. Soon after the youngest of the surviving Uchiha's had left the village, Naruto went on to train with the Toad Sannin, but soon his return would approach, and he had changed in more than one way, but we'll get to that later. Back to Konoha.

The forests outside of Konoha were blooming with new life, trees, animals, and even human life, signs of a new spring, signs of a new beginning. The green of the trees appeared to have a new hue, the flowers were blooming in spectacular colors. Animals were also quite beautiful at this time, rabbits, fox, and other small creatures coats seemed to burst out in the green, causing many passerby to just look and stare, wolves were also getting in their new coat, which was a sight to behold. And all over the forest they seemed to be stirring for some reason. The forest seemed to be moving with the excitement of the new season, and this excitement even went inside the walls of the familiar village.

The village had not changed much in the past two years, although there were definitely more gambling businesses set up in various districts, thanks to a certain large breasted, gambling addicted Hokage, but what may have stood out is the diameter of the wall had gone out almost a mile, but most did not take notice to it. There was also the addition of Tsunade's face to the mountain, next to the fourths, one would believe there appears to be a pattern because each face seemed to be pointing in the direction of that particular Hokage's birthplace. What may be more peculiar is that the Yondaime's was pointed in the direction of where the Hyuuga compound and the former Uchihas, which also contained a currently unknown, rather large, rarely discussed abandoned compound, though that's a different story. Now back to what needs to be said. Along with all the activity outside of Konoha, the villagers were all in a state of excitement as well, some more than others, and a particular realization had occurred simultaneously amongst several of the residents of Konoha.

Haruno Sakura had been at the hospital on call for the past few days, on direct orders of the Hokage, and she was already fed up with the attitude everyone seemed to have, "_Everyone has that damn smile one their face, what's so great about today_?", thought Sakura. As if someone had read her mind an old woman, resembling a certain wife who went by the name of Hill in a fairly popular tale, walked up to her and said "You should be out with your friends, happy, because today is today the fourth became Hokage, one of the happiest days of this village, April first" . Sakura soon began to remember the things her parents had told her about this particular day, and how it was meant to celebrate his sacrifice, she then looked up and said "Then that's what I'll do" giving the woman a bow of thanks. "Hmm, now to convince her to stop wearing those shorts, they're so revealing" said the woman in a direction that seemed to hold no soul. "Now Bobby lets go eat" Sakura hearing all that the woman had said she started to walk away faster reminding herself to make sure she is not talking to a mental patient, still thinking about what importance that particular day had.

On the other side of the village in the Hyuuga compound the sound of a loudmouthed Kiba could be heard "Shino, ya know one day I'm gunna convince Hinata to forget about that Naruto, she doesn't need that fuckin idiot for a boyfriend, no offense to him, but as long as he doesn't know how she feels it'll work out." Shino before had been barely paying attention, decided to take a look at Kiba, who had not grown much, but his hair seemed to reach past his shoulders in an unkempt curly fashion, with his normal apparel of the jacket, pants, and sandals, the only huge difference was that Akimaru had grown significantly in this amount of time. "Kiba, after that training today I don't think she'll ever stray from him", said Shino remembering Hinata's words "I'll never give up, I have to show him that I'm strong", with a look of determination, and exhaustion on her face. One could say that Shino had smiled at that thought, but if they did they would end up neck deep in many of his invertebrate friends.

Meanwhile within the complex Hinata was preparing for her normal afternoon activities, which included training with her sister, dressing for dinner, and sitting in her room writing down her thoughts or painting. When she looked around her room, she felt a slight tug at her heart as if she had forgotten something, and when she finished her preparations for training she went into her closet to look at her paintings. Looking at the mirrors that were placed on her sliding doors you could see her slender figure, long hair, and plainly fair complexion, she was very beautiful and had definitely grown into a woman, and without her jacket you could see that she had changed her style quite a bit, wearing a blue tank top with a floral pattern on it over her normal ninja fishnet.. After staring at the mirror awhile she shook off the thoughts of what Naruto would think about her hair, and opened her closet to retrieve the painting. She pulled out one that was the most articulate, and was plainly the one that took the most time, one of Naruto. She smiled at the painting thinking of everything he had said to her before he left.

FLASHBACK

This day was a bright one, a particularly calm one, many people had gone to visit Naruto before he left off, even Ino who had never really liked the idea of even being around him for very long. One thing though that everyone didn't expect was that Hinata was nowhere in sight, no one could find her anywhere, not even the members of her own clan. Where she was though was in the one place no one ever goes the site of the battle against the Kyuubi, ironically it was the only place in the village where a person could have any peace. "I really should go see him", said Hinata to herself "but I'm too afraid I'll embarrass him, or myself." She sighed thinking about her timid demeanor towards Naruto, that's when she heard a twig break in the forest. "Umm, who's there?", there was no answer so she pulled out her kunai ready to throw, when Naruto came down from the branch of a tree, "MAN I'VE GOT TO GET RID OF THESE SHOES", yelled a rather annoyed Naruto, grabbing and throwing the shoe that had gotten caught on the tree when he landed, and as he threw he caught sight of Hinata, "oh hey Hinata, what're you doing out here, I thought no one ever went out here. Hmm, well besides me", he said with a laugh. "Well it's the only place that's quite", she said with her head turned to the ground. "That sure is right, its almost as good as Ichirakus", Hinata laughed a little at what he said. "Hmm, Hinata you know you really shouldn't look down all the time like that, it hides your pretty face", Hinata turned a very bright crimson at this, "Well hey I have to leave for a while, so see ya in two years" and with that he headed off to leave, with Hinata still there in disbelief at what he said, "he thinks I'm pretty", and with that she fell to the ground.

FLASHBACK END

Hinata still blushed even thinking back on what had happened, she couldn't believe how much she missed him since he had left. She looked at the painting thinking of something she had forgotten, looking from Narutos yellow hair, to his wide smile, to his marks, to his blue eyes, then she finally remembered, turning towards the north gate of Konoha.

Kakashi had been busy for the majority of Naruto's leave, often doing various missions, and work for Anbu or reading his Icha Icha books. The man had not changed much visually since the last time Naruto had seen him, he had bought a new vest recently though one that was silver, and had his headband adjusted so he could more easily cover his eye with cloth rather than using the heavy metal protector part that dug into his face. He had been working close with Anko, and the two were often seen together, rarely apart, which started people questioning their relationship. As Kakashi sat in a tree reading one of his books, Anko appeared out of the trees, and said "Kakashi, today is the celebration of the Fourth", "hmm" was Kakashi's answer, and when he looked up he realized the importance of that day, and as though everything synced up at once, several voices were heard throughout the village saying, "NARUTO IS COMING BACK TODAY!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Acchhooo"

_Someone must be talking about me right now, lets hope its Sakura Nee-chan hehe, _thought a certain yellow haired shinobi as he jumped from branch to branch in the forest that neighbored the nearby village of Konoha. The shinobi moved very swiftly almost as though he was at one with the wind, cutting through the breeze as though he had the ability to fly. The yellow hair that had once been short and spiky, not was long and reached past his shoulders, though it was still rather unkempt, at this moment he was dressed in a cloak, and basic other ninja wear, _I can't wait to try on my new clothes, _he had thought.

Shortly behind him the old perverted sage followed at his own pace, or rather a pace he could travel comfortably and still be able to write notes for his well… "novels". This man hadn't changed much since his last visit to the village of Konoha, well other than his perverted nature being amplified after being with a boy for nearly three years. _I wonder if I can use Tsunade as inspiration for my next novel, _he thought with a bit of drool slightly coming out of the right side of his mouth.

"Hey Ero!" shouted the yellow haired ninja.

"What do you want brat?", replied the perverted Sannin.

"Once we get to the gate, I'm going to change into my new equipment, that way I can surprised everyone" he said while laughing, "No one is going to recognize me anymore."

"Yeah cus that mug of yours has already gotten ten times uglier"

Three years ago one would expect a shout coming from this particular ninja, but it never, only a smirk came to his mouth, something had changed about this ninja. His movements were precise, his gestures seemed planned, his voice matured with wisdom and experience, and overall more quiet then the loud mouthed delinquent that once filled the streets of Konoha with pranks, and anger, he once was.

The two ninja then began to converse on their plans on their arrival in their home village, and as this began it seemed that the buildings of the Shinobi village came closer into view.

"Research is the first thing I will do upon my return boy"

"By research you mean taking your regular visit to the bath houses to peep, don't ya"

"DO NOT DEMEAN MY WORK!"

"The work of an ero, is always at the end of the day, the work of an ero. Ero Sannin."

"ITOLD YOU TO NOT CALL ME THAT"

"Jiraiya, if you yell like that again you're going to scare the villagers"

The Sannin turned his head to see that amidst his anger he failed to notice that they arrived in the village and were already inside the market. One must forgive him though, the market had grown quite different in the past three years, many new shops, displaying new products, some only available once before in the big cities, such as video games, and television sets, a rarity among ninja villages. To no ones surprise though since the incumbent Hokages term the amount of gambling facilities had grown ten fold, though the main patron was the Hokage herself.

"Wow this place sure has grown eh Naruto" said Jiraiya. As he looked around he waited for a response, some time passed and he finally turned around to see that Naruto had disappeared. "That boy will never be tied down" said Jiraiya with a smirk. "NOW TO THE BATHHOUSES!"

As Naruto passed all the familiar corners he knew oh so well, he began to think of all the training he had undergone through the past few years, and the fact that he hadn't seen himself in a mirror in quite sometime, he knew his hair had well past his eyes and was now resting at his shoulders, and that he was now slightly taller than Jiraiya, quite a leap from what that boy had once been. When he turned to the street his old apartment lied on he saw that instead of the large building he knew so well, there was Ichirakus, which now was a full restaurant instead of the meager stand it had once been. _Man_, thought Naruto, _This is awesome, but sucks at the same time_, and with that he walked into the door.

No one paid much attention to the once loudmouthed blonde haired ninja, as if they had not known him, but with this case it was more like they didn't recognize him. He took one look into the mirror that was placed near the entrance of the new Ichiraku building and was quite surprised at what he saw himself. The first thing that he noticed was that the lines that were once so visible on his face were gone, something Jiraiya said would happen eventually, but for reasons he did not specify. He also had developed a more athletic build, probably due to their treks through the mountains, and Jiraiya leaving Naruto to carry his boxes filled with unmentionable materials, some doujinshi featuring a short, black haired, flat chested soul reaper. _Damn porn addict_ Naruto had thought at the time. The last thing Naruto noticed was that his face had matured quite a bit, somewhat resembling a particular carved face in a certain well known mountain.

Just as soon as Naruto had turned his head away from the mirror he saw many faces gaping at him, though not with the usual cringe, disgust or disdain they usually had, but of surprise and admiration. The old man Ichiraku has ruined this moment though, because even though his favorite customer has changed so much, he could recognize him from the beginning.

"Ah Naruto, here to eat me out of business again?" came from the kind shop owner. "And home" replied Naruto with a slightly smaller smile than normal, but the smile still shone through his eyes, as much as it had his wide grin had when he was younger. "Miso with an egg please." "Always straight to the business eh Naruto?" As the man turned into the kitchen, Naruto turned around to see that much of the customers had left, and the few left had returned to their facial expressions of scorn that they held for him once before.

Naruto proceeded to take his seat at the bar in front of the kitchen. "So business looks good old man". "Well, sadly after you left people were more keen on coming here", replied Ichiraku, as he placed the ramen in front of Naruto. The ramen this time seemed a step up from the last bowl he had before his departure, obviously a result of using more expensive ingredients. "Naruto, you've seemed to change quite a bit, more than just your appearance, did something happen while you were gone". "Nothing…" Naruto said with hesitation. The familiar old man paused for a moment, despite the changes in his young friend, he knew when something was wrong, "Well if it ever turns our to be otherwise come here for a bowl, and we'll talk over it". "Thanks", Naruto said finishing his Ramen, "Well old man, I've got to get out of here for now, till later". With that the blonde hair ninja disappeared out of the shop.

_You know maybe I should have asked him if I could have stayed at his place_, thought Naruto as he roamed the streets. _Maybe I'll just sleep on the fourths head again like I used to._ Before he knew it, he found himself laying down on the mountain looking at his familiar home once again, and the compound that had tested his curiosity as a child.

Notes: Kinda shorter than I had hoped, the plot is taking a while to unfold, though in the next chapter I'll get to what I believe will be interesting. Oh yeah, and if anyone is interested in being an editor it would help me out greatly.

Additional: Yes, there are cameos.


End file.
